The ringgit opened higher against the US dollar and Asean currencies, boosted by positive sentiment ahead of the announcement of Malaysia's inflation rate this Wednesday.
At 8am, the ringgit rose to 4.6815 against the US dollar from 4.6840 at the close last Friday.
Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd's Chief Economist, Afzanizam Rashid, said investors were looking forward to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data to assess the impact of the diesel subsidy rationalization implemented from June 10.
The consensus estimates the inflation rate to be at 2.2% slightly higher than the 2% for May.
He feels that the impact is likely to be small given that the withdrawal of diesel subsidy will give the CPI a direction of only 0.2%. However, the trajectory of domestic inflation will shape monetary policy decisions.
The ringgit should move positively as the significant interest rate differential with the United States will narrow in the second half of 2024.
Meanwhile, local currencies were easier against the major currencies except for the Japanese yen where it strengthened to 2.9739 from 2.9760 at Friday's close.
It eased against the British pound to 6.0541/6.0664 from 6.0452/6.0497 last week and eased against the euro to 5.1024/5.1127 from 5.0957/5.0995 previously.
On the other hand, the ringgit was higher against Asean currencies by rising against the Singapore dollar to 3.4827/3.4901 from 3.4833/3.4862 at last Friday's close and rising against the Indonesian rupiah to 289.0/289.8 from 289.2/289.6 last week.
